Japan is WeirdFor all its beauty, amazing culture and the most developed technologies, Japan has another side. Quite strange. All known weird Japanese music videos and commercials, scary movies, and non-standard behavior…

How I ate a dog: a Journey in North Korea and South KoreaIn the summer of 2013 Evgeny Konovalov spent six months in North Korea, and six months later went to South Korea and compared their impressions. About the strangeness of people's…

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In Japan March is generally considered women’s month is celebrated not only the eighth of March, but “Momo-but sekku” (peach blossom Festival), the famous Holiday girls, better known as “Hina Matsuri”, the doll Festival. Initially celebrated in the 3rd day of the 3rd month, as a seasonal event because at that time the peasants were relatively free from agricultural work and can enjoy the first warm days, when you started flowering peach trees.

According to the ancient traditions of the Heian period (794-1185 years) on this day in noble families were invited exorcists who have made special prayer services, aimed at all the troubles people have switched to paper dolls, “nagsi-Bina” which was then taken to swim in the river or sea.

The wide spread of the holiday was in the 18th century, and its main purpose was added custom to arrange in homes where there are girls, shows a richly dressed dolls depicting the life and customs of the Imperial Palace. Now the custom has changed a bit: instead of paper dolls put ceramic figures dressed in silk clothes. On a special bookcase in the best room there is a set that is composed of dolls, passed on from generation to generation Continue reading →

An exciting and unusual world of Japanese cooking has its own history and customs. It was created over centuries, based on the territorial peculiarities of the Japanese culture and traditions. Today, Japanese cuisine has received the widest distribution and has consistently enjoyed great popularity among people worldwide. Not the last role was played by the longevity of the Japanese nation, which, of course, is because they eat.

The main product is rice, which is included with most dishes and is the basis of the daily diet of the Japanese. From it prepare a variety of dishes for lunch, dinner and Breakfast. The difference is what is used Fig. For Breakfast, the Japanese prefer crisp rice, garnished with pickled vegetables for lunch – rice with boiled vegetables and for dinner with fish and meat broth. In Japan, rice was replaced by bread, it is used to cook alcoholic beverages and sweet desserts.

After rice the second most popular product is fish and seafood, served in boiled, fried, stewed or raw. The main highlight of Japanese cuisine, which has won great popularity among residents of European countries are now sushi. For this dish uses raw fish or seafood sliced into small slices. The pillow is made of a small lump of rice, formed of boiled fresh rice. The sushi rice is boiled in a special way, very adhesive and sticky. Continue reading →

The Japanese do not celebrate the New year in our understanding. New year’s eve, they quietly go to sleep, but Wake up early in the morning and all go together to see the sunrise of the New year. We, of course, also met some new year’s dawn, but in a completely different state.

The Japanese have no jokes, but a kind of sense of humor.

2. Never say never

People in Japan try never to say the word NO, just replacing it with a polite departure from the topic, or this agreement is non-binding, and, ultimately, leads nowhere.

The Japanese have virtually no jokes. It’s hard to imagine, but true.

In Japan it is considered very unseemly, if You do not have a business card. So the Japanese even in the pool are wearing special waterproof small bags for business cards.

Courtesy is still in Japan comes to the extremes. Instead of pozhimanie hand the Japanese use the bows, and need to bow as many times as it did to You. The situation comes to the absurd. For example, if the Japanese decided to order sushi home, and if he can get a very polite courier delivery sushi home, this favor can take a lot of time! Guests will gather, and the courier will arrive very polite: then to bow, may take more than one minute! Continue reading →

March 8 in Japan. International women's day. HolidaysIn Japan March is generally considered women's month is celebrated not only the eighth of March, but "Momo-but sekku" (peach blossom Festival), the famous Holiday girls, better known as "Hina…